Commodity-cabinet



1. L.'FLANNERY, JR.

COMMODITY CABINET.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 4. 1919. I

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Patented Dec. 7, 1920.

If n J. L. FLANNERY, JR-

COMMODITY CABINET.

APPLICATIONIFILED APR. 4. 1919.

Patented Dec. 7, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES...

"PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN L. FLANNERY, JR., OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE BOYE NEEDLE COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

COMMODITY-CABINET,

Application filed April 4, 1919.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN L. FLANNERY, Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook andState of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Commodity-Cabinets, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates particularly to cabinets adapted to the purpose of storing and displaying small articles of merchandise; and the primary object is to provide a cabinet of simple and cheap construction which is well adapted to such purpose.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated, the cabinet is adapted to the purpose of storing and displaying small. articles of merchandise, such as snap-buttons or other forms of dress fasteners, orany other small articles mounted on cards.

The invention is illustrated in itspre ferred embodiment .in the accompanying drawings, in which.

Figure 1 represents a perspective view of a commodity cabinet constructed in accordance with the invention, onev closure of the cabinet being shown in open or standing position; Fig. 2, a sectional viewof the improved cabinet, the section being taken as indicated at line 2 of Fig. 3; and Fig. 3, a vertical sectional view parallel with the front of the cabinet, the section being taken as indicated at line 3 of Fig. 2.

In the construction illustrated, A represents a casing equipped with an upper closure A and a lower closure A The cabinet is divided, by suitable partitions, into a series of compartments 1, 2, 3, and 4, which preferably incline rearwardly and upwardly and are arranged in stepped relation. The

series of compartments 1 are provided with and the individualcompartments have side walls "1?. T Siirii larly, the series of compartments 2, 3 and 4:- have the rear walls 2*,3, and 4", respec a rear inclined wall 1;

tively, and the individualcompartmentg of these series have the lateral walls 2 3 and 4 respectively.

The compartments are of a suitable width to receive display cards 5, which may be of any suitable design. Thus, the card 5 shown in Fig. Bhas its face marked with a design indicated by 5; andlthe card is shown as having mounted thereon snapbuttons or dress-fasteners 5 The recepta- Specification of Letters Patent.

of merchandise adapted. to be Patented Dec. '7, 1920.

Serial No. 287,539.

cles, or compartments, preferably are bottomless, except that there are provided in the lower portions of the compartments card-supporting strips 6. These strips are disposed edgewise, and preferably incline rearwardly and downwardly. Thus, they afford shoulders which are adapted to support the cards 5 which, for this purpose, alret pzrovided at their lower edges with s o s Display cabinets of this construction may 7 be furnished by manufacturers of small articles of merchandise to dealers throughout the country; and one purpose of the construction is to provide against improper use of the cabinet or against unauthorized or fraudulent use of the cabinet. Thus, a manufacturer who furnishes the cabinets to dealers gratis, that is to say, with theunderstanding that the cabinet shall be used only in displaying and selling merchandise of such manufacturer, may supply cards specially adapted for use in the cabinet, and may guard against unauthorized use of the cabinet.

It will be noted, from Fig. 2, that the,

disposition of thecompartments is such as to provide a spaceS beneath-the compartments. Access to this space may be had by means of a door 9 with which therear wall 9 of the cabinet is provided. -The upper closure A of the cabinet preferably comprises atransparent wall. 10 and a frame having side members, or flanges, 10*, a rear upper member, or flange, 10", and a lower cross-member, orstop, .10. The closure A comprises a transparent member 11 and a frame having sidemembers, or flanges, 11*, alower member, or flange ll and an upper cross-membenor stop. 11, which is located adjacent the cross-member 10,. The closure Af has its side-flangesjoined, pivot con- 'As has been indicated, the supports for the cards are so constructed as torequire the use of special cards in the cabinet. Preferably this is done by recessing, or cutting away, the lower edge-portions of the cards. Any suitable expedient may be adopted, however, for requiring the use of a specially shaped card. It is desirable, in order. that disarrangement of cards may be avoided,

that the supporting members 6 shall incline rearwardly and downwardly; also, that the compartments shall have back walls for tie cards to bear against and lateral walls to prevent the cards from tipping on their supports. This-is more especially desir because it is desirable to have the slo T lower edges of the cards somewhat so that the cards can readily be placed upon the supporting strips. The means for supporting the cards may be varied, of course. It is desirable to employ supporting means, however, which will permit portions of the cards to depend below the supporting means. Thus, in Fig. 3, the upper wall of the slot '7 of the card rests upon the upper edge of the strip 6, While portions of the card depend below the upper edge of the strip 6. Because of the fact that the compartments are quite shallow, it would not be feasible to substitute ordinary rectangular cards for the slotted cards shown, as the cards would fall out of the receptacles and become disarranged. It will. benoted, for example, that the rear wall 1 of the front series of com partments 1 forms the front wall for the lower portions of the series of compartments 2; and thus it will be seen that the compartments are open both at their upper ends and at the front sides of their upper portions.

The construction described is simple and well, adapted to the display of cards or paper slips having mounted thereon small articles of merchandise; and the cabinet is adapted to prevent fraudulent practices, as where a merchant receives a cabinet bearing the name of a reputable manufacturer and marked to indicate that only the goods of such manufacturer are to be displayed in and sold from the cabinet. The special form of card required for the cabinet will prevent an unscrupulous merchant from eniploying the cabinet, except in connection with cards especially adapted for use in connection therewith. The cards may be employed as mountings for various small articles of merchandise, which, as shown in the illustration selected, may be readily detachable from the cards. Thus, the cards man be used continuously as mountings by applying fresh articles thereto, as may be neces sary, or fresh cards may be substituted for replacement or renewal purposes, as desired.

.As illustrated in Fig. 1, the side walls of the cabinet may be equipped withstops 14 adapted to support the closures when they are in the closed position.

The foregong detailed description has been given for clearness of understanding only and no unnecessary limitation should be understood therefrom, but the appended claims should be construed as broadly as permissible in view of the prior art.

lVhat I regard as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

i. A cabinet comprising several series of upwardly and rearwardly inclined compartments having the lower portion of one series disposed behind the upper portion of the preceding series, said compartments being provided with open upper ends and open front sides at their upper portions and having central card-supporting strips which incline forwardly and upwardly and are adapted to engage central notches of cards adapted to said receptacles.

2. A cabinet comprising several series of upwardly and rearwardly inclined compartments having thelower portion of one series disposed behind the upper portion of the preceding series, said compartments being provided with open upper ends and open front sides at their upper portions and having card-supporting shoulders which are arranged to provide spaces into which portions of cards may project below said shoulders.

3. A cabinet comprising several seriesof upwardly and rearwardly inclined compartments arranged in stepped relation with the lower portion of one series disposed behind the upper portion of thepreceding series, said compartments being open at their upper ends and at the front sides of their upper portions and having their bottoms provided with forwardly and upwardly inclined cardsupporting strips, an upper inclined closure provided with a transparent wall and pivotally connected with the rear upper portion of the cabinet and a lower inclined closure having a transparent wall and pivotally connected with the lower portion of the cabinet, said closures being adapted to swing in opposite directions in opening the cabinet.

4. In combination, a cabinet comprising several series of upwardly and rearwardly inclined compartments, arranged in stepped relation; said compartments having open upper ends and open front sides at their upper portions and said compartments having, also, card-supporting shoulders which are arranged to provide spaces into which portions of cards may project; and cardlike mountings contained in said compart ments and having shoulders engaging said first-named shoulders and having portions extending into said spaces, saidmountings being adapted'to support articles on display.

5. In combination, a cabinet comprising several series of upwardly and rearwardly inclined compartments having the lower portion of one series disposed behind the upper portion of the preceding series, said compartments being provided with open upper ends and open front sides at their upper portions and having central cardsupporting strips which incline forwardly and upwardly and are adapted to engage central notches of cards adapted to said receptacles; and mountings for articles of display, said mountings comprising cards adapted to said compartments and having central notches engaging said card-supporting strips.

6. In combination, a display cabinet comprising a compartment having an open upper end and open front side and provided in its lower portion with a card-supporting shoulder and a space below said shoulder into which av portion of a mounting-card may extend, and card-like mountings contained in said compartment and having a shoulder resting on said first-named shoulder and having a portion extending into said space, said mountings being adapted to support articles on display.

7. In combination, a cabinet comprising several series of compartments arranged in stepped relation, said compartments having open upper ends and open front sides at their upper portions and said compartments having, also, card-supporting strips disposed in then: lower portions and arranged to provide spaces into which portions of cardmountings may project; and card-like mountings contained in said compartments and provided with slots afiording shoulders resting on said card-supporting strips, the lower portions of said mountings extending into said spaces, and said mountings being adapted to support articles on display.

JOHN L. FLANNERY, JR. 

